April 4, 2006
09:00 AM (EDT)

News Release Number: STScI-2006-13

Nearby Dust Clouds in the Milky Way

April 4, 2006: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed dense knots of dust and
gas in our Milky Way Galaxy. This cosmic dust is a concentration of
elements that are responsible for the formation of stars in our galaxy
and throughout the universe. These dark, opaque knots of gas and dust are called
"Bok globules," and they are absorbing light in the center of the nearby
emission nebula and star-forming region, NGC 281. These images were taken
with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in October 2005. NGC 281 is
located nearly 9,500 light-years away in the direction of the constellation
Cassiopeia.